French Canadian filmmaker Sophie Deraspe is currently taking big gulps of the French Alps for her sixth feature film currently in production. Saint-Narcisse thesp Félix-Antoine Duval toplines Berger – the book-to-film adaptation of D’où viens-tu, berger? micro_scope folks Luc Déry, Kim McCraw and Élaine Hébert are producing the project along with the Avenue B folks Caroline Bonmarchand, Xenia Sulyma and Sébastien Perret. Supporting players include Solène Rigot, Younes Boucif, Bruno Raffaelli, Véronique Ruggia, Michel Benizri, Guilaine Londez and David Ayala.
Set to conclude filming early next month, this will be ready for 2024. One noteworthy member of the tech squad is Viking filmmaker Stéphane Lafleur who also moonlights as a notable film editor. Deraspe’s last film Antigone was Canada’s Oscar submission back in 2019.
Loss of meaning, Mathyas trades his life in Montreal as a young advertiser for that of a shepherd in Provence. The path to the much-desired pastoral tranquility is, however, strewn with hard work. It is through self-mockery that Mathyas survives the violent delirium and decay of the first farmhouse in which he did his apprenticeship. But it is the visit of Élise, a civil servant who has quit her job, which gives a new direction to Mathyas’ quest. Together, they embark on a transhumance. Crossed by the hardships of the mountain, with a herd in their care, they will shape a new life for themselves.
Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).
